Mannfred von Carstein, Mortach of Night

‘It is more than natural laws he defies in this place [Nachtsreik], but the rules which govern even the darkest magic … He considers himself an artist in his way.’ – Queen Neferata on Mannfred von Carstein.

I’ve essentially finished painting Mannfred, inspired to tackle him first among the Mortachs by virtue of the labyrinthine hunt for this errant, ambitious and cunning ‘servant’ of Nagash which plays out in an Age of Sigmar novel.

I say essentially finished because while I’m happy in many ways with the outcome, there are things that I think maybe didn’t quite work as planned. I also managed to break parts of the model trying to repair some of the paintwork.

Starting with what I’m happiest with – I really like the transitions on Mannfred’s cloak, which are most visible in this reverse shot. I built these up with layers of thinned Incubi Darkness, Nihilakh Oxide, White Scar, and Nuln Oil.

Something I’m less happy with is his blade which probably looked better at an earlier point. I managed to overdo some layers and couldn’t seem to get the contrasts right after that.

What a great model and interesting character though. And I’m overall pleased to use him like this on the tabletop! In any case, I’m really looking forward to the new rules arriving for his Legion of Night:

The Bait – Granting +1 to Deathrattle saving throws if within your territory

Ageless Cunning – Allowing you to set aside 3 units for deployment at the end of a movement phase anywhere within 6″ of a board edge and 9″ away from enemy models

These seem pretty useful, providing slow skeletons with greater resilience, and allowing for some tricky ambush deployments across the board (thinking Morghast Archai).

In other Death related news, I’ve pre-emptively bought for my birthday, acquiring Nagash himself, the Shadespire Sepulchral Guard, and pre-ordering the new battletome.

Thanks for reading, appreciate any comments or advice on this one especially!

P.S. Nacho’s Arkanaut Admiral managed to run off the field for a major victory in our Saturday game, playing the ‘Cornered’ scenario in Path to Glory. With the Black Knights tied up by Endrinriggers, my shambling horde just weren’t able to catch him.